Porque Te Amo
by Stormfire76
Summary: "Travis just stood there in shock, looking at the letter in his hand. 'The flower is in the nursery,' it read. 'The flower is wilting.' For a second, Travis hoped that Connor might be pranking him, but his little brother knew how he felt about this particular flower. Not even Connor could be this cruel. Travis sighed. This was one code he'd never wanted to read."


**I wrote this _ages_ ago, so it's incredibly cheesy and probably stupid and focused on a ship I don't even know if people care about anymore... But since I haven't posted anything in a while, and I probably won't post anything else for a while, I figured I'd better send out something so people knew I was still alive.**

**Here is that something, over 3,000 words of Travis Stoll and randomness and kind-of-Tratie-fluff.**

**I'm going to post this before I lose my nerve. Hopefully someone will get enjoyment out of it! :)**

**Oh, and this is set in-between TLO and TLH. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO/HoO, and I'm super sorry if the cancer focus of this oneshot is offensive to people/inaccurate in some way.**

* * *

**Porque Te Amo**

* * *

Travis just stood there in shock, looking at the letter in his hand. (Yeah, letter. Cell phones still attracted monsters.) He had to be reading it wrong. They must have completely changed the English language since he'd last read something. (Hey, it was possible. It'd been, what – three months? Well, if you didn't count the instructions on explosives packages... Actually, that would explain why _that_ had happened...) Anyway, that wasn't the point. The point was that no way in _Hades _could this message be true.

He read the words again, his lips forming each syllable, to see if there could be some mistake. _The flower is in the nursery. The flower is wilting. _For a second, he hoped that Connor might be pranking him. But his little brother knew how he felt about this particular flower. Not even _Connor _could be this cruel.

Travis sighed. This was one code he'd never wanted to read.

* * *

So here he was, standing in the Chronic Disease ward, in front of Door 22K. K for Katie Gardner. Plastering a smile on his face, he pushed open the door and stepped inside.

* * *

Katie wasn't even remotely surprised to see Travis appear in her doorway, even though she hadn't told him that she was sick, and certainly hadn't said which hospital she was in. The elder Stoll brother somehow managed to know every little thing about Katie at all times. She was beyond thinking it was weird.

"_Hola_, Katie. _Como estas_?" Travis asked, in a _moi terrible_ Spanish accent.

She groaned. "Not this again. I thought that after you saw how badly German went, you were done with the whole languages thing."

Travis pretended to consider, then shrugged, still grinning. "Nah. Not done. I will continue with anything that seems to annoy people effectively. But seriously, though," he said, the smirk disappearing, "how are you?"

"'Seriously'? I never thought I'd hear that word come out of your mouth," Katie said with a smile. After he glared at her for a straight minute, no pauses, she realized that he did actually care, and continued, the smile dissipating into thin air. "Seriously, though, I feel like crap, and this sucks. I mean, I'm a demigod. I fight monsters all the time, and I've always known I could die any time. But with all the danger and fighting wars and stuff, I never really had time for a little thing like sunscreen. I mean, gosh. Out of all the things that could kill me, it had to be skin cancer."

"It's only skin cancer?" Travis said, brightening considerably. "Can't they, like, do surgery or something? Isn't that the easy one to get rid of?"

She sighed. "Yeah, it would be easy. Except with the whole Titan War disaster, I haven't been to a doctor in five years. The first time I realized something was wrong was when I passed out planting daffodils and Miranda dragged me to Chiron last week. Yeah, it was melanoma. I've had it for two years. And it's already spread. The doctors told me that they can try chemo and junk, but it probably won't help."

He just sat there silently for a while (ten minutes of quiet from him was probably some kind of record, Katie thought, almost smiling) before looking up at her inquisitively. "Where's the melanoma mark-thingy, Katie?"

She hesitated, but this was Travis Stoll. If she didn't show him, he'd just find out some other way. Besides, what was the point in hiding it? Pulling down the shoulder of her hospital gown, she showed him the black mark on her back. Katie looked at him carefully, noticing as his eyebrows furrowed together, wrinkling his tan skin. He frowned angrily. "I've seen that a thousand times, watching you. Gods, I'm an idiot. I just thought it was a birthmark or something. Why didn't I guess it was something else? You could've had surgery then, and be fine now…"

He watched her? When? Why? For a second Katie was confused – then she shrugged off the thought as realization dawned on her. He was, after all, Travis Stoll. He'd probably been watching her to make sure she was away from her cabin so that his brothers and sisters could prank him. That was it. Of course it was. But that didn't explain why he cared what happened to her…

Her thoughts broke off as Travis turned away, obviously frustrated with himself. She stopped him from leaving with a touch of her hand on his arm. He moved back, but she could just see that he wanted to kick a pole, scream at the top of his lungs, punch a wall, do _something _to let out how he felt. Frankly, Travis Stoll was close to being devastated, and Katie just couldn't understand why. She wasn't important, or special. She was just that annoying Demeter girl who yelled at him whenever he pranked her siblings… Although, lately, they'd been talking more and more, and she'd realized how great he could be when he wasn't being infuriating… Seeing how close to freaking out he was, Katie put her jumbled-up train of thought on pause and went on kind and caring mode. After all, Katie Gardner looks after people. And nobody needed more looking after than Travis Stoll did at that moment. So she started talking, comforting him, squeezing his arm gently.

"It's not your fault, Travis," she said softly, planning to be strong and brave. But when she saw him being strong and brave back, it was just too much. The last week was just too much. All of her good intentions about being kind and caring evaporated, and she broke down. "It's not… I don't blame you… I don't blame anyone… But… oh gods, Travis. I just can't – I mean, I've fought Hyperborean giants, automatons gone wrong, Clarisse and the Ares cabin, and Hades-knows-what-else. Somehow, I… I lived through that. And now… I'm going to _die_ because of a freaking _disease_."

Travis's head snapped up at that, and he looked at her closely, a worried frown creasing his forehead. For a second, she thought he was seriously going to start bawling, and she started freaking out a little. Then he did something even crazier. He laughed. Katie didn't fail to notice, though, that his voice wavered a little as he did. "You know, I really thought you had skin cancer. You really had me going. I didn't realize that Katie Gardner was capable of pulling pranks. It was you and Connor, wasn't it? I'm going to have words with him later. Really, though, you were doing a great job. But that sentence there – that just gave it away. If you actually had skin cancer, I know that you would be fighting it forever and always. You wouldn't be admitting defeat this easily. Would you?"

Katie's mouth was already open, preparing to yell at him, when she saw the pleading look in his bright blue eyes. She would never have believed it, but he was actually scared. He was worried about her. And joking about it was his coping mechanism. She raised an eyebrow, ignoring how much the effort hurt. Travis Stoll had a coping mechanism. Well, you learn something new every day.

Instead, she decided to just tell it to him straight. He was a big boy. He could deal. She looked down at her covers as she spoke, hiding her tears. "I'm just telling you the truth. I don't see a way out of this one, unless the doctors were all wrong and chemo will somehow work. I'm not being pessimistic. I'm not giving up. I'm just telling you the truth now, so you won't be so surprised later." After all, she could save him from a mental breakdown now. But after she was gone? Not so much.

Travis was now studying the wall covered with, um, amateur, um, modern art. Yeah, that was a nice way of putting it. Anyway, it wasn't anything exciting enough to warrant him giving it that much attention. Unless he was trying to hide something. Like tears. But he was a Stoll brother, and Stolls didn't cry, so Katie must just be going crazy. Still, though, when he spoke, his voice cracked a little. "You know, Apollo probably knows how to cure this."

Um, okay, random statement much? But he had a point. "You're probably right," she agreed, a little warily. Where was Travis going with this?

"It's a shame you aren't still going out with Will Solace," he continued. Oh. _That's _where he was going. "He could've probably convinced his dad to help you out."

"Well, I don't regret breaking up with him," Katie said stubbornly. "I don't like him anymore. I mean, not that way."

"On the one hand, I should be upset because he could really be worth it to you right now," Travis said. He was still looking at the modern art. "But I just can't bring myself to be sad. I'm just too darn glad you're single now."

"Oh, really?" Katie asked, her heart beating rather fast. "And why is that?"

Travis turned and looked at her piercingly, and Katie was startled to see that yes, he was really crying. Travis Stoll. Crying. It was a foreign concept. And scary. When he spoke, though, he voice was clear and strong. "_Porque_ _te amo_."

Katie just sat there, trying to register the words. Spanish again, of course. But if that meant what she thought it meant... Before she could fully process it, he was leaning over her bed, whispering in her ear. "Don't get the chemo, Katie. I like your hair. And don't you dare give up yet. I'm a Stoll. And Stolls can lie, cheat, and deceive their way out of anything. I'm going to lie, cheat, and deceive my way out of this. You'll be fine, just you wait."

He was almost out the door before Katie could open her mouth and say something back. But she managed it, just before he shut the door. "I don't want to be alive because you lied to, cheated, and deceived someone."

Travis Stoll turned to look back at her, and she admired his perfect blue eyes and slightly tousled brown hair. "I'll be legit, then, Katie. For you."

Then he was gone.

* * *

It was one of his best plans, Travis had to admit. First, he melted down the Apollo cabin's supply of Celestial Bronze arrows and molded the molten metal into a mound of modern art, dropping it on their doorstep. (Try saying _that_ three times fast.) Then he wiped the floor with their basketball team. That was the fun part. It got the sun god's attention. He landed next to the court in his red convertible, burning the surrounding grass.

"Really, children? You can do better!" He looked at Will, his favorite, for a long moment before he shook his head and turned to Travis. "And you. How dare you-"

"I really need to talk to you, Apollo," Travis said quickly. "Please? It's urgent!"

The god of music eyed him suspiciously for a moment before shrugging. "Fine," he said, donning his sunglasses. "Get in the car."

"Yes! Score!" Travis hopped in next to him, Apollo revved the gas, and in no time, they were in the sky.

Once they were cruising at about ten thousand feet, Apollo turned to look at him. "I'm not going to bother to look at the road, because the road is the sky, and my father will make sure the sky does not dent my ride."

Travis didn't even bother responding to that. "Apollo, I need your help."

"And you thought you'd get it by humiliating my kids?" For a second, Travis thought the chill god might actually be mad. Then he grinned. "I like your style, kid. What do you want?"

Travis sighed in relief. "There's this girl-"

Apollo nodded sagely. "I understand completely. But you know, you should really be going to Aphrodite-"

"No!" he said quickly. When Apollo raised an eyebrow, he kept going, ignoring his blush. He was in the presence of the sun god. He had sunburn. That was all it was. "I mean, she's sick. She's got melanoma. Can't you cure her?"

Apollo tilted his head to the side, considering. "Whose daughter is she?"

"Demeter."

"Oh. Who is she?"

"Katie Gardner."

"Well, I don't want her stuck in the Underworld, with her stepsister being so depressed all the time and all. But I'm not really supposed to intervene with stuff-"

Suddenly, Apollo went stiff, starting to glow. Without thinking about it, Travis looked away. Wouldn't want to get roasted while trying to help Katie. What good would that do her?

After a minute or so, Travis could feel his glow receding, and he dared to open his eyes. "Okay then," Apollo said, nodding his head resolutely. "That was Prophecy, mugging me again."

Travis looked at him in surprise. "You get mugged too? I thought that was just Rachel!"

"No, I get mugged too. More often than her, I might add. But that's not the point. Prophecy says that Katie can't die, or else some people will run rampant without her protection, and a war will begin between – um, certain demigod parties – without her mediation skills" – Travis grinned a little, remembering how Katie was the only one who could sometimes convince him to suspend pranks for a while. If that didn't show amazing mediation skills, he didn't know what did – "Gaea will win, and all in all, Western civilization will epic fail."

"Western civilization epic failing would be bad, right?" Travis said hopefully, ignoring the fact that nothing the god said had really made any sense. He just couldn't imagine a world without Katie and her mediation skills. "So you'll heal her. Right?"

"Not so fast, Travis," Apollo said, and Travis's spirits sunk down to the Underworld. "I require payment for my services."

His hopes soared again. "I've got drachmas. Tons. And I can always steal more."_ No, Katie wants legit,_ his conscience reminded him. (Whoa. He still had one of those? That was _definitely_ Katie's fault.) "Actually, I can't steal more. Long story. But-"

"No, no, not that kind of payment," Apollo said meaningfully, and Travis suddenly understood.

He smiled slowly. "I'll give you weekly pranking lessons, free of charge. And I'll help you plan the most freaking awesome party Olympus has ever seen."

"And you won't prank the Apollo cabin for the rest of the summer. But you'll double your forces on Ares."

Travis didn't even hesitate. "Done."

"Sit here." Apollo clicked his fingers, and somehow, before he knew it, Travis had his hands on the steering wheel, and Apollo was riding shotgun. "Drive me to Katie Gardner."

Travis was grinning all the way back to the hospital.

* * *

Katie couldn't believe her eyes when she saw the red convertible touch down in the parking lot, singeing the cars nearby. Was that _Travis_ driving? She shook her head in amazement and turned away from the window, only to see the son of Hermes himself walking in with the sun god. Travis Stoll had managed to smuggle Apollo in to see her – ? Oh wait. He was Travis Stoll. Of course he had.

She frowned at him. "Did you lie, cheat, or deceive?"

"Not even a little. I was totally legit."

"It's true," Apollo added.

She leaned back and relaxed. "That's okay, then."

Apollo started forward, but Travis said, "Wait," hurried over to her, and grabbed her hand lying on top of the covers. She smiled genuinely at the contact, her first real smile in days, before looking up at him questioningly. What was he waiting for? He gazed down at her for a second, and she saw an expression on his face she'd never seen before, a mixture of hope, caring, and worry. Then he leaned over and kissed her, quickly and impulsively, and all thoughts flew out of her head.

Too soon, he backed away and motioned Apollo forward, smiling at her sheepishly. Katie looked back at him, and grinned back with a grin that she hoped conveyed everything she was thinking – a grin that showed how much she cared about him. She saw a new emotion added to the mix in his eyes – happiness – and opened her mouth to say something. Before she could, a bright white light engulfed her. It was almost as bright as the love burning in her heart.

* * *

When Travis sat down next to her, looking at the flowers she was planting, Katie wasn't even remotely surprised. The elder Stoll brother somehow managed to know every little thing about Katie at all times. She was beyond thinking it was weird.

"Did you put on sunscreen today?"

"No... I used up the last of the sunscreen on Melli this morning."

"Is that any excuse?" That's when he produced the bottle of SPF 50 triumphantly.

Katie looked at him searchingly. "Did you lie, cheat, or deceive to get that?"

He shook his head. "Bought it from the camp store. I knew you would ask that," he added, grinning. Of course he did, she thought, smiling a little. He knew everything about her.

Travis applied the sunscreen all down her arms, on her shoulders, behind her neck, and on her face, adding a tad extra to her nose because he knew that area burned the easiest. She shivered a little as the cool paste slid onto her skin. Then she turned and rubbed sunscreen on him, ignoring his protests. "You helped me first. It's only fair."

When she finished, he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly. "I'm glad you're back, Katie."

She smiled. "I'm glad you're here with me." She leaned her head against his shoulder, enjoying him holding her for a while. Then, with a start, he let go and reached his hand into his pocket, withdrawing a chapstick.

"SPF 30," he said, waving it in the air. "Good thing I remembered. You would've missed a spot."

"Thanks, Travis," she laughed, savoring the feeling of someone taking care of her for a change. She took the chapstick – strawberry, she noticed – and applied it carefully. Then a mischievous glint appeared in her eyes (instead of his, for once), and she leaned forward, kissing him gently, her arms around his neck, his arms around her waist.

When she leaned back, she was smiling again. She was smiling more and more these days. "You missed a spot too."

He was grinning too. "You're right. Do you want to do that again, just to be sure you got it?"

For a second, Katie was thinking about rolling her eyes at him, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. She liked him too much. Instead, she kissed him again.

After she pulled away a second time, Travis made her reapply the chapstick again, claiming that it had probably all rubbed off on him. "Not that I minded," he added with a smirk.

She smiled in response and did as he asked, leaning her head against his shoulder after she finished. For a long time, she was silent. Then, softly, she spoke. "Thank you, Travis. For everything. But I have to ask. Why have you done all this? Why do you care? I mean, I don't – I feel like –"

She thought – she hoped – she knew, but she wanted to be sure. Her hopes were confirmed when he leaned over and kissed her a third time. "Isn't it obvious, Katie?" he asked, his blue eyes reflecting the sunlight. "_Porque te amo_." Because I love you.

* * *

***sigh* You can tell this was written back in the days when I only wrote fluff and happy endings... Where did my innocence go? **

**Oh, that's right, I lost it when I started reading YA fiction. :P**

**Tell me what you thought! Thanks!**


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